Peace Out, August: Friday Favorites

Ho-hummm, Friday, we meet again. Most of my coworkers are out enjoying the last Friday in August, so it should be a quiet day at work at least. This weekend I'm headed to a BBQ and a game night. Have I mentioned how much I love a good game night? I really do. What are you up to? Kicking it off with Amanda and some faves from the week!


Favorite Song: Honestly, I love Grace Potter's whole new album, but Instigators and Alive Tonight are my favorite. 

Favorite Recipe: I made this baked ziti with beef last night for dinner and it turned out AMAZING. So good, and so filling. Also, it was easy to throw together and toss into the oven. Perfect for busy weeknights. 

Favorite Reads:

This is pretty cool. Now you don't even need to have a car to tailgate to game, concerts, etc!

I love the news that Anthony Bourdain is opening a new international food court in NYC. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

It's been confirmed: Donald Trump's hair is real! Did we really believe it was fake though? I've sen that thing fly on some windy days so if it wasn't real, it sure had some serious hold!

This is a brilliant idea for teachers/classrooms:

Favorite Quote: 

Favorite Video(s):

I found this one over at Being Beth, but I couldn't stop laughing so I'm re-sharing it here:

Favorite Funnies:

Another reason why I'm happy that I don't have kids...

Currently:: August

I realized I completely missed doing this in July, ad after yesterday's kinda heavy post, I wanted to do something light. So here's what's going on in my life currently.

Reading: The Martian by Andy Weir

Listening To: A lot of random stuff on Spotify. 

Wearing: Basically this, except with black pants instead of skinnies because work. 

Watching: Friday Night Lights on Netflix. I'm on Season 5 and now I'm getting anxious because I don't want it to end!

Needing: more time.

Wanting: Some pointed flats. They look so cute, but also work-friendly, and comfortable! These Audrey Brooke neutral patterned ones are my fave. 

Anticipating: The Mindy Kaling in conversation with with Tina Fey in September!!! I'm so excited!

Avoiding/Dreading: signing on for any more grad classes. I've really loved having this summer off to read whatever I wanted and not have to worry about, um, anything.

Wishing: for a vacation. Preferably on an island with umbrellas in my drink.

Trying: to get back on the meal-planning, weekly groceries train. I've been eating out like crazy.

Buying: pillows and towels #oldladystatus. (No but seriously, Kohl's is having their clearance sale event. Crazy low prices on everyday stuffs. Just sayin'.) But I'm also in the market for a picnic bag for an upcoming wine country trip, and I've had my eye on this one:

Worrying About: my work situation. 

Planning: allthefunthings for fall! I already have quite a few things on the calendar, including a few concerts, a couple food festivals, the Jack O'Lantern Blaze, and  Blogger Meet Up! 

Loving: these thin Oreos. Seriously, so good.

What's going on with you?

Fear

People can be scared of lots of different things- spiders, heights, and clowns come to mind first.

I wouldn't say I'm scared of many things. Clowns, yes, because I saw that Stephen King movie "It" when I was too young at a friend's sleepover and then her stepdad decided it would be funny to come into the bedroom right before lights out with a damn clown mask on and a knife.... so mean. It seriously scarred me. Death scares me, because it's so definitive and unknown. How can you prepare for that? Will it hurt? When will it happen? What happens afterwards? There are just to many unknowns for me to be comfortable with the idea.

But another thing that I'm afraid of, and one that I've become more aware of as I've gotten older, is the fear of change. 

I know change can be good; that it usually is good. But that doesn't mean that taking a leap into the unknown is less scary, at least not for me. I think this is why I put off serious decisions; ones that will have a huge impact on my life. I believe the reason why I've never quit a job, even when I knew it wasn't the right fit for me. Or why I let a relationship go on, long past its expiration date. Or why I stuck with my degree, even after I realized I didn't want a career in that field.

It takes me a very long time to process big changes. I'm not sure if that's true for everyone, but I know it's true for me. It took me several months to decide to leave a guy who wasn't right for me. It took me that long just to open up to anyone else about it, because I don't like talking to even my closest friends about deeply personal problems.

I think part of my issue is that once I commit to something- whether it be a job, a project, a person, an idea- I am committed, wholly and completely. It may take me a while to commit, but once I do, I give it my absolute all, and failure is not an option. (Which may be another fear, but that's a whooooole other post).

At this point, I'm at a crossroads in both my career and my schooling. To be quite honest, my work situation is on shaky ground. We've had some major organizational changes, to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if my boss was "looking for other opportunities." My department consists of 3 people (including myself), and it just seems that he's pulling at straws to find us work to do recently. I liked what I was doing before, but this lack of productivity is really taking a toll on me, and I'm not sure things will pick up due to inter-office political BS.

I am committed to this job. I liked the work I was doing; I felt like I was really helping people. I love my coworkers (even if they sometimes annoy me). I love the location. But...

I saw another position at my company. This new job is more techy, and I'm not positive that I could get it. But I do know that I have some of the experience they're looking for, I've been working with the hiring manager for awhile (in my current role), and it's more money. It's a department where I may have more room for growth, but I may not as well. 

I don't know where my current jobs stands, and how long I'll have it. And if I lose my job, I lose my chance at the free grad classes (perks of working at a college/university). Not that I want a degree in anything that I can get here, but I was looking into the Project Management Certificate at least. All I need is ONE more course to get it, but in order to take the one class, I need to apply for a full graduate program. Which I thought meant I had to take the GRE and apply, but I recently found out that because I have 5+ years of work experience, the GRE is excused.  Huh. So now what's my excuse?

Fear.

Suburbia, USA: Weekend Updates

Being born and raised in a small suburban town in New Jersey, I thought I had seen all that "Suburbia" had to offer. Apparently, I was wrong. On Saturday, I attended my first ever wetdown. In case you also didn't know what it was: 

1. A wetdown is a ritual celebrated by many volunteer fire departments in the United States in which squads of firefighters from neighboring towns ritualistically commission a new fire apparatus by anointing it with water sprayed from the visitors' firefighting equipment.

They had food, bouncy houses and park stuff for the kids, and a beer garden for adults. For $15, you got a mug and it was all you can drink. The brand new fire truck was parked in the front area, and sporadically you'd hear the sirens coming from a neighboring town to spray the new truck for good luck. It was really cute, especially to see all kids jumping around and the kids of some fire fighters getting to hold the hose. I also bumped into a few people from high school that I didn't hate, so that was cool too. All in all, it made for a great Saturday! 

On Sunday we headed over to Red Lobster for Crabfest. (And also because we had credit card reward points/gift card and a a coupon-save those dollas!) Then we headed to our friend's daughter's going away party. She's headed to boot camp for the Marines. Her mom is going to lose it because she won't be able to get in touch with her for months, only by letters, and they said even that was slow. She can't bring anything other than the clothes on her back- it's crazy!

We ended the night with Fear The Walking Dead. Did you watch? Honestly, I'm not even caught up on TWD, but I figured I'd watch this one from the beginning. I don't really get it, but I won't go into details here- I hate spoilers! I will note that it's weird seeing some actors in different roles; the whole time I was thinking, "But that's Matt Saracen's mom!" (From Friday Night Lights, which I'm still chugging through). 


So, how was your weekend?

Friday Favorites

I am so excited for this weekend, mainly because I get to slow down and SLEEP IN. I seriously love sleep, and really, really dislike waking up super early to do stuffandthings, especially when that includes taking public transportation for hours on end, like I did last weekend. Yuck. Just a few more hours until weekend bliss... so let's kick it off with Amanda and some of this week's favorites!
Favorite Song: West End Kids- New Politics

Favorite Snail Mail: It came, it came! Thanks so much Blogging for Books! Can't wait to dive into this over the weekend!

Favorite Quote:

Favorite Reads:

First and foremost, my friend is trying to sell her house in North Carolina. There's an open house next weekend, if you know anyone in that area you might be looking!

I kind of love that President Obama shared his vacation Spotify playlists.

Did you hear that Sephora is coming out with subscription boxes to compete with others like Ipsy and Birchbox?! It's only $10 a pop, and apparently they offer some high end products! Unofrtunately it's sold out now, but I'm on the waitlist!

I love elephants, and I love this story of how one broke into a zoo to be with his lady :)

Favorite Video: If this doesn't give you all the feels, I'm not sure what will.

Favorite Funnies:

truth.

I know I said I was over these but I love this one!

Throwback Thursday: My High School Self

Friends, we are throwing this Thursday waaaay back, to my high school years! (I'm warning you know, this is a long one!) I'll admit up front that I was a total nerd. I didn't go to parties where my mom didn't know the parents (and sometimes spoke to them beforehand), I never tried drugs or even a cigarette, and other than a sip of wine on special occasions, the first drink I had was a Zima after prom (which I hated and didn't even finish). School was always the number one priority in my house, and going to college wasn't an option- I was going come hell or high water. The good part was that I actually liked school and wanted to excel. I was a good kid who did homework right after school and was pretty shy and quiet, except around my close friends.

I went to high school from 1998-2002. I was in high school during both Y2K and 9/11. (I was actually sitting in my psychology class when 9/11 happened. We were released early and my mom picked me up and we went straight home. But this post isn't about that.) 

So we shall start at freshman year. From Kindergarten to my sophomore year at college, I had a dog. He was a mutt that we picked up at the North Shore Animal League, and his name was Spot Clifford (because I was 5 when I named him and already a bookworm). 

That's us in my backyard. It really doesn't have much to do with this post other than the fact that I really like the picture. Moving right along...

This is from Sweet 16. My Sweet 16 was a big deal. I think it was the first time I had my brows done. We rented out a hall, I made the guy I had a crush on walk me in (hehe), and there was a swan ice sculpture. There are more pics, but I can't find them right now. It was also the first time I spoke to or saw my Grandma in 11 years (she and my mom had s falling out when I was 5). She was a major pita and made me late for my own damn party because she was fixing her hair. But I'm still really glad she came. 

I had pretty much the same group of friends from freshman year to, well, now. I still talk to these two, though we're not as close as we used to be. I remember we had a notebook with notes to each other that we'd trade between classes (really wish I knew where it is now and what it said!). We came from each of the three towns and I believe we met in choir. 

We (the first pic) also had nicknames for each other. I was Qt, to my left is Princess, and laying down is Angel. Below is how we'd dig our names. Obviously Princess had a crown for the dot over the i. We swore to get tattoos with a heart with wings and a crown when we were of age, but alas, that never happened. Ahh, to be young and so, so silly again!

I always participated in a lot of after school of activities. I think my mom supported this to 1) keep me out of trouble and 2) to make sure I was "well-rounded" for when college apps came around. It helped that I always wanted to do everything, even when I was younger. I already mentioned that I was in choir, but I was also a band geek, tennis player, and part of at least 3 clubs (KEY club and drama club come to mind first).

I know I attended the Freshman Formal and the Sophmore Social, but I don't really remember those. The first time I had a date to a dance was the Junior Cotillion. His name is Haris, and I don't really remember who did the asking, but I think it may have been me. I was never really shy when it came to guys. Anyway, we never dated, but he was a perfect gentleman. Facebook tells me he's married with two kids now.

P.S. That dress was my mom's and I still have it, and it still fits, if a bit short and tight.

I've heard that my generation is called the Oregon Trail generation. I got (and was expected to use) my first computer my junior year of high school. I still used encyclopedias and the library for research (there was no Wikipedia), but everything was expected to be typed and cited, whether you used the Internet or not. It was a confusing time, academically, for that reason. I also played a lot of The Sims on that computer. The dial-up was a real issue, which is why I had my own phone line- school always came first! 

I lived in a 3 bedroom ranch house. I was allowed to paint this room sea foam green, put in an air mattress in the other corner, and blast Eiffel 65's "Blue" and jump around, or Meredith Brooks' "Bitch" on repeat on particularly angsty days. 

I was always a little older than my peers since my birthday is in mid-December. And I'm pretty sure my mom loves my birthday as much as I do (I'm an only child). This pic was taking directly after waking up, hence my half asleep face. 

Those are pieces of paper on my balloons. They were part of my birthday present hunt. For my bday and Easter, my mom would make me do things like recite poetry while doing 10 jumping jacks for my next clue. I used to get SO annoyed, but now I kinda miss that. Also, please note the YM magazine (anyone else read that?) and Nick Lachey pic. Le sigh. 

When I walked outside on my 18th birthday I found... A car. I was in shock. Of course I wanted one, but we didn't have money like that. I still have no idea how my mom made that happen, but she did. It was an old Mazda Protege and I adored it. 

As soon as I got a car, I also got my first cell phone (in case of emergencies). I skipped the beeper phase, so this was all kinds of exciting. Of course it was a Nokia flip phone. And I wore it with the belt clip because I didn't know any better and my mom was adamant about having it on me all the time. I actually still have it too. Ahh, the memories. 

For some reason, I was obsessed with Nelly Furtado by the time she came out with her second single, "Sh!t on the Radio." (I kind of hated "I'm Like a Bird.") I just loved her voice, her Portuguese background, and what she was about- she seemed different. (I may have also been told that I sounded like her.) Soon, my friends would even give me pics when they spotted her in a magazine, and so began what I fondly refer to as "The Nelly Wall." By the time I graduated, the wall extended all the way to the floor and halfway up the other wall. 

I was so about her that when I finally came out of my shell in my senior year, I tried out for the annual Talent Show using her song. My band teacher was the one deciding, but he was facing the other way for each audition (like in The Voice). He couldn't believe that it was actually me, because is been so shy up to this point, at least when it came to performing anything other than the sax solo. So I became her for the Talent Show. 

That's my high school boyfriend, Frank. He played bass in a cover of No Doubt's "Don't Speak" with his band in the show. He broke up with me via phone on the 4th of July that summer because I was in a pre-college camp and he couldn't deal with the distance. We're still friends- I attended his wedding a few years ago and am very happy for him. Also, glitter jeans were very popular back then, so don't judge!

If you've made it this far, kudos and thank you!! I know this was a long one. Anyway, this is me and one of my best friends, Angel, at our senior prom. I mentioned before that I was a nerd. And I showed up wearing the same dress as one of the most popular girls at school. Ugh. Oh well. The first pic was senior year of high school, and the second was freshman year of college, just to see IF we could still fit in them. That one year certainly made a difference; we both look so different!

What were you like in high school? Show and Tell with Andrea!